Eyman’s anti-gay referendum unlikely to qualify for the ballot

I couldn’t go to bed without briefly commenting on the latest news from our state’s best known professional blowhard.

Supporters of an effort to overturn the state’s new gay civil-rights law sent out an e-mail Wednesday saying they’ve collected just a fraction of the signatures needed to get the measure to voters.

Tim Eyman sent the e-mail to supporters and the media, saying that only 8,718 signatures have been gathered. He needs 112,440 valid voter signatures by June 7 to get Referendum 65 on the November ballot.

Hmm. What to think?

Well, on the one hand, knowing what I know about Eyman’s organization (or lack thereof), it really wouldn’t surprise me to learn that R-65’s signature gathering efforts have been so anemic. But on the other hand… Timmy’s a pathological liar.

Further complicating the analysis is the fact that Eyman’s email touting his dismal performance is entirely out of character. Indeed, his usual M.O. is to flood supporters with upbeat proclamations that he’s “never seen this much excitement before,” but urging everyone to work (and give) harder because it always takes a “Herculean effort” to get any initiative on the ballot. Such guarded pollyannaisms are Tim’s norm, regardless of a measure’s actual public support.

I suppose it is possible this latest email could be a clever feint, but I fail to see the tactical advantage of portraying his campaign as weaker than it really is, and besides… Timmy isn’t really all that clever. So in the absence of even the tiniest scrap of evidence that the R-65 signature drive is gaining any traction whatsoever (you know, like actual people gathering actual signatures)… I’m going to have to reluctantly take Eyman at his word.

(Yuck.)

So… absent a sudden, six-figure infusion of cash, R-65 doesn’t have a snowball’s chance of making it onto the ballot.

Let’s look at the numbers. To qualify for the ballot Eyman must collect 112,440 signatures by June 7, but not all these will be valid. The Secretary of State recommends a cushion of 25 percent, but let’s be generous and say Tim can get by with only 10 percent, for a minimum target of 124,000 signatures.

As of yesterday, Eyman claimed to have collected only 8,718 signatures, while hateful, nutcase preacher Joe Fuiten claimed to have another 2,900. That left them about 112,000 shy of their target with only 42 days before the deadline. To put this in perspective, they’re now less than one-tenth towards their goal, more than halfway through the 90-day signature gathering period.

To qualify for the ballot, the R-65 campaign would have to collect about 2,700 signatures a day, 7 days a week, from now until June 7… not necessarily an impossible task if you can afford to hire an army of paid signature gatherers.

But Tim can’t.

For the past couple years, Timmy has essentially been a kept man, financing his campaigns (and his lifestyle) primarily through the generous support of one Michael Dunmire of Woodenville. His latest $30 Car Tab initiative is flush with Dunmire cash, but R-65… not so much. Eyman claims to have raised only $13,000 thus far, but most of this actually consists of loans from him and the Fagans. In fact, as of March 31, R-65 had raised only $1041.01 in cash contributions.

So what we’re looking at here is an all volunteer signature drive, a difficult endeavor under the best of circumstances, and something Eyman has never organized. I suppose the strategy, so to speak, was to rely on conservative church groups to gather signatures, and I guess the hope was that the effort would somehow organize itself spontaneously.

But with the exception of those rare ballot measures that simply catch fire, successful signature drives require either an immense amount of planning and organization, or an immense amount of money… and Eyman has neither. The truth is, without Dunmire’s money, Eyman brings little to the table other than a knack for garnering undeserved media attention, and a hateful measure like R-65 requires a helluva lot more resources than that.

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That’d be great if the referendum doesn’t even qualify for the ballot!! So much for the accusation that the state legislature “ignored the will of the people” in finally passing the nondiscrimination bill!

Still, it does seem odd…I’d expect them to be able to get 8,718 signatures just hanging around outside a few of the conservatve megachurches for a couple Sundays. (Maybe that is where they got them, actually…and the ONLY place they’ve been able get them!) But I just don’t see what advantage Eyman would gain from lying about this. The opposition isn’t going to let its guard down until the referendum is defeated. Possibly he could be exaggerating in the hopes of causing his volunteers to redouble their efforts….but that could have the opposite effect and be demoralizing to them.

Any word on how the corresponding initiative is doing? I’m guessing it must be languishing too…if people aren’t signing one, they probably aren’t signing the other.

Maybe Tim Eyman is getting paid under the table to flush the R-65 campaign down the toilet? That explains him jumping out and pre-empting the referendum effort, stealing all the thunder, lulling the conservative religious community into complacency, and then selling them down the river by doing virtually nothing to promote the signature gathering efforts.

Goldy — I am disappointed in you. This Tim Eyman story was put out by the Seattle P-I on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 at 6:21 p.m. You are USUALLY on top of things right away — especially when dealing with the fellow who you thought should be legislated into a horse’s ass.

But this time it took you TWENTY-NINE HOURS AND THIRTY-THREE MINUTES to notice this news item and post your story about it. Did you get really smashed at Drinking Liberally in Burien Wednesday evening, or what?

Maybe the public has had enough of this little punk Timmy? Or maybe he’s just as big a liar as most republicans? Or maybe he’s just as stupid and incapable as Baby Bush? Or maybe Washington state is a place where homophobes with a Bush bumper sticker and a secret desire to swallow dick are outnumbered by decent people who think discrimination has no place in our great state. Pick one or pick all, you’d be right.

I am sorry to hear you guys have such problems with this democracy. Giving the people a voice seems to bother you. Perhaps you guys should live in China, the political climate there might be more to your liking…

Washintonians have a voice and by the way Chuckles, we live in a republic, not a democracy but then again, you righties never know shit about what you’re talking about anyway.

So the voice is called the Legislature.

Actually China seems to be more to the liking of the supporters of the Bush regime. Just the other day, Baby Bush ordered the arrest of a woman who was exercising her right to free speech in front of the leader of China while AWOL asshole was saying China should allow more freedom. Go figure.

Not true, Chuck. It’s pretty clear the people want nothing to do with this initiative. Is that the voice you are refering to? Tim Eyeman is a charlatan. To conflate him with “the people” is a sure sign that one does not actually believe in democracy.

“WASHINGTON (April 28) — President Bush is expected on Friday to announce his approval of a deal under which a Dubai-owned company would take control of nine plants in the United States that manufacture parts for American military vehicles and aircraft, say two administration officials familiar with the terms of the deal.”

The plants supply turbine blades to military contractors for use in tanks and aircraft.

Not to worry — the Republithugs also arrested a bunch of grannies for a peace demonstration in front of a recruiting office, but the judge acquitted them, and said they were wrongly arrested. So free speech is still legal in NYC, even if it isn’t in D.C.

I think it’s telling that even a right-wing shill like Richard Pope @2 suspects Eyman might be selling them out.

This new tact is uncharacteristic of Eyman. Normally he’s all bluster about how his initiatives are clearly the obvious will of the people and how they will be signed, certified and passed in a landslide. Like Goldy and Pope, I too am suspicious.

Eyman is trying to party like it’s 1994. I’m not sure how much outrage the public will focus on HO-MO-SEXUALS when they begin to learn about this lobbyist-sponsored whorehouse for Republican big-shots. The details coming out of that are gonna suck the air out of Tim’s rage-based campaign.

1) I’ve been discussing Tim’s anti-gay initiative with a few folks with some pull in the Eastside religous community, and the majority are very much in the mood to avoid getting involved with it, even relatively conservative folks. We’ll see if that holds…

2) Peole seem very anti-initiative in general this election cycle. Another friend who has been trying hard to get signatures through volunteers for the Clean Energy Initiative is complaining that folks won’t sign their forms at first glance because they think it’s “another thing from Tim Eyeman.”

I tried going “deep cover” (i.e., disguising myself as a wingnut) by misspelling “capacitor” as “capacitator” but it didn’t work because only one of the trollfucks even realized I didn’t spell it correctly!

-Who are you kidding? Tim Eyman is the reason you have ANY recognisition.-

Yeah, and what’s your claim to fame, momus? The fact you’re an adult who can’t spell? Or, the fact you think of yourself as a Christian who basically represents an anti-Christian attitude and position on just about every subject you “tackle.”

I suppose it could be worse. I could be a fat middle aged Jew whose been abandoned by his wife , lost custody of his children and now spends all his time posting a blog and surrounding myself with like minded failures.

I tried going “deep cover” (i.e., disguising myself as a wingnut) by misspelling “capacitor” as “capacitator” but it didn’t work because only one of the trollfucks even realized I didn’t spell it correctly!

Commentby Roger Rabbit— 4/28/06@ 9:59 am

What is wrong with “capacitator”? You can even find an article about “capacitator” in WikiPedia:

So Horseofanothercolor: If we disagree with the inhuman protestations of GLA, GLAAD and their friends we are racist homophobes? Why do I have to agree with your take on civilization to be “agreeeeeaaaaable”? If we detest their disgusting parades and their demonstrations of non-procreative public love acts on their floats and in their parades we are the weirdos? I didn’t sign it because it would do no good anyway. This is a wacko out of the mainstream state and another law would be created to overturn the initiative by the moonbat librul leftists in Olympia anyway!

Why horseless looselips: Moi le racist? Ou la la! C’est magnifique! Wrongo Seattle Skuul teacher. Did I call PacMan Lionel or tell him he’ll be a field nigger again soon? Ahhhhhh, no; your sorry ass wrote that! Then you were slapped down by the intelligent lefties here and dj!

Still blogging on the school’s dime I see. BTW the last person I would listen to in the whole earth is you. I would listen to these in reverse order on non importance: last person on earth – horseless looselips, stuckonstupiddon, dribble, rudejacks, for the cluesless, leftturd, and of course hairy poontang. Remember leftturd still thinks the inauguration for President GWB occurred before January 20, 2000!!!

I don’t accept the GLA and GLAAD pronouncements. But since your do, why not invite them into your home? I’m sure your wife would like the company. Be sure to invite Mohammad the terrorist into your home also!

I’ve always thought Eyman bought his own press FAR more than he should have. You want a funny?

Initiative 695 (Timmy’s pride and joy):

Yes: 56% No: 44%

Initiative 688 (raising the minimum wage, enacted one year earlier):

Yes: 66% No: 34%

Initiative 728 (adding funds to education, enacted one year later)

Yes: 72% No: 29%

Initiative 732 (annual COLAs, enacted one year later)

Yes: 63% No: 37%

I’ve never understood why legislators or Governor “Faintheart” Locke cowered in fear of this guy- considering liberal policy initiatives enacted by voters regularly kick his initiatives ass in terms of the votes they get. Liberal policy gets REGULARLY enacted at the polls in this state.

PS- how about someone tries a Massachusetts-style health care initiative and we pull a reverse Tim Eyman? I’m sick of the Legislature fiddling while Rome burns because schmucks like Sheldon and Hargrove defect from the caucus on a regular basis.

I posted this (twice) on the thread above…but I LIKE IT, so I’m postin’ it here, too.

****************************************************************

You know, Dookie…

…You know I hate to encourage a dumb fuck like you, but OK…I read the article.

“All carrot and no stick.”

OK fine…the policy didn’t work. At least SOMEBODY TRIED SOMETHING.

Better than this numbnuts fucking whore to the oil and gas industry we got now.

P.S.- I don’t know WHAT point you were trying to make with that cite. But if that’s the BEST you can do…some ambiguous criticism of a complicated scheme to work Auto-makers into an environmental plan when auto-makers were LAUGHING at environmental concerns…and Clinton-Gore had just gotten a REALLY embarrassing smack-down by the bought and paid for members of Congress and the health care lobby…boy THAT helped all Americans didn’t it…if THAT REALLY is the best you can come up with out of your “REAL blogospere” to prove some kind of POINT…then…

Dem energy policy [ex Hollywood Democrats, Kerry and Kennedy’s private jets, 110 ft Chris Crafts, mansions, water craft, and SUVs] – tax and litigate as many energy/oil/transportation/retailers/corner gas station owners [ producers] as possible – don’t drill anywhere, ingore the Russian drilling in Siberia, but it’s OK for the Chicomms and Cubans to drill 75 miles from Key West, FL because they are sweet and socialist. – blame Bush – don’t pursue nuclear power. Jane Fonda’s movie taught all Democrats everything they need to know!! Only the French should because they are socialist. – Always blame Bush – don’t allow new hydro – blame oil companies. Tax them even more. Add 50 cents more in taxes per gallon, then blame Bush for higher pump prices!!!. – tear down old hydro – blame Republicans. Oil Companies must not show any profits. Profits are evil. – don’t allow wind mills if they spoil a Kennedy view off Cape Cod. – blame people that drive to work alone. Make them use bikes and/or walk. No horses because of horse poop. Democrat welfare hacks who need to power their 42 inch Sony plasma HDTVs in Detroit, Gary, Philly, and South Central LA are OK. – don’t use coal. Coal kills. – blame businesses that use energy to produce products or generate jobs. “Guvment” jobs: good, private sector jobs: bad, must tax them until they go away. – don’t give incentives to anyone, anywhere to find and develop hydrocarbons. “All you need is love”!! – blame capitalists and shareholders of any energy/oil companies for being “greedy”. Russian oil companies are OK. So are Chicomm energy companies. EXXON is a four letter word!!

No Mr./Ms./Miss/Mrs.(?) Clinton, I am not a dumbass and I know exactly why prices for energy are so high. The Profits from the energy companys are derived from refined petro chemicals and gasoline. Control the refining process and you can make a fortune. If you do not believe that, I have some greedy SOBs from ENRON who can explain it to you:

(CBS) During California’s rolling blackouts, when streets were lit only by head lights and families were trapped in elevators, Enron Energy traders laughed, reports CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales.

One trader is heard on tapes obtained by CBS News saying, “Just cut ’em off. They’re so f—-d. They should just bring back f—–g horses and carriages, f—–g lamps, f—–g kerosene lamps.”

And when describing his reaction when a business owner complained about high energy prices, another trader is heard on tape saying, “I just looked at him. I said, ‘Move.’ (laughter) The guy was like horrified. I go, ‘Look, don’t take it the wrong way. Move. It isn’t getting fixed anytime soon.”

MARIA HINOJOSA: Oregon’s senator Ron Wyden … who’s been following this issue for years … is referring to internal industry documents that came to light during Congressional investigations and court cases.

One example, a Chevron memo from 1995, which included this warning from an energy analyst … “if the U.S. petroleum industry doesn’t reduce its refining capacity, it will never see any substantial increase in refining margins …”

Agreed – it shows the level of vertical control the oil industries have. They own everything from the oil in the ground until it gets delivered to the gas station. Some independently owned gas stations (at the ultimate end of the market) may get squeezed, however.

I recall a few months ago that a gas station in downtown Seattle was almost out of fuel. The oil company had suspended deliveries for some reason or another. But if the gas station ran out of gas, even for a moment, the company could jerk their franchise, putting the station out of business. So the gas station had to raise prices to an exhorbantly high level to discourage people from buying the gas, until they could get deliveries. The station owner took the heat from the public, was not able to make any sales for several days, and the oil company (who had suspended deliveries) received an indirect benefit from the higher price (making other price increases area-wide seem relatively smaller and more acceptable in comparison).

When initiatives and referendums don’t qualify for the ballot that means they have failed. Let’s hope this one fails too. And unlike Ed Murray, who benefits by making this subject a big deal, my sense is that outside the Senate GOP caucus and a few fundy churches, the idea of making it illegal to fire someone just because they are gay doesn’t have much currency.

I credit Tim Eyman’s rise generally to the lazy mainstream media which has done its easiest to repeat his goofy glip – but quotable – stupidities. On this one they helped Tim makes issue about something that is far from revolutionary. Too many mainstream reporters are easily drawn into the cut and paste mode of journalism – send them an e-mail and they’ll put their by-line on it.

The controversy, if you could call it that, over whether whether we ought to add “sexual orientation” to religion, marital status and a host of other attributes of our people to civil rights protections was only a big story because because it proved that the state Senate’s GOP was way out of touch with mainstream values in the state for about 30 years.

In the end Eyman may have been tricked into thinking that the citizens of the state think like all but one Senator in the GOP caucus and a few fundy publicity seekers.

And it could be that the mainstream media was looking for constroversy and thought it found one when Eyman decided to make civil rights his issue too. The dumb thing about this whole thing is probably that most people in this state, who are mostly pretty reasonable, were wondering what all the fuss was about. Probably still are.

I just hope the Supreme Court waits until July to issue its ruling on marriage. While I have confidence that most people in this state know the difference between getting a job, a loan or insurance and – getting married, I will never underestimate the ability of many lazy mainstream reporters to check their brains at the door and cover something stupidly, acting like just because a few nut cases believe very stupid things, everyone else should buy it and they should serve as their conduits to fundraising.

Again, the only news in all of this is that only ONE GOP state senator saw through it and these same people are only one or two seats away from a working majority. Thankfully it appears that the senate GOP they will lose bigtime in this coming November’s election, in part because they proved they are lost on this basic issue. Just the other day their leader was quoted saying that his caucus will have a bad election. That should tell people not to waste any more money supporting this tired old regime.

Eyman isn’t working on his pro-descrimination campaign for two major reasons beyond the fact that most people in the state don’t get excited about supporting discrimination (except all but one GOP senator):

1. He found out it hurts his campaign to stop transportation improvements. His association with a pro-discrimination agenda has undermined support for Tim’s big money-making scheme this year: I-917.

2. Money talks. The Woodinville couple backing Tim’s effort to stop progress on transportation, I-917, don’t want to have anything to do with a pro-dsicrimination campaign. They make their money on Wall Street and their clients are are mostly well-heeled investors who know that discrimination is: Bad for Business.

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